D.C. United vs. San Jose Earthquakes | MLS Match Preview

D.C. United remain at home for a second consecutive weekend with an aim to end their club-record winless run, playing host to San Jose Earthquakes in an interconference clash Saturday evening at RFK Stadium. United saw their winless run stretched to 13 games last weekend, falling 2-1 to Toronto FC on East Capitol Street. The Quakes opened the Mark Watson era with their first road win of the season, coming away from the Colorado Rapids with a 2-1 victory.

LAST YEAR (MLS):
5/2: SJ 5, DC 3 (Lenhart 19, 74; Wondolowski 21, 69; Morrow 31 ñ De Rosario 8; Woolard 64; Salihi 88)
* The teams are meeting for the only time this season in league play.
* The teams met once a year ago, the Earthquakes taking a wild, 5-3 victory at Buck Shaw Stadium. It was the first home win in the series since the 2010 season.
* San Jose has won on each of its last three trips to the nation's capital, dating back to 2009. United has won one of the last eight meetings between the teams (with two draws).
* Coaches record: Ben Olsen v SJ: P1 W0 L1 D0 Mark Watson vs. DC: first game

D.C. UNITED
D.C. United took a rare lead but couldn't hold on, their club-record winless streak extended to 13 matches following a 2-1 loss to Toronto FC on Saturday evening at RFK Stadium. United are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference with 6 points from 15 matches.

LAST MATCH
* United opened the scoring. Nick DeLeon was clipped by Toronto defender Gale Agbossoumonde after a run and fell into the box, and referee Hilario Grajeda immediately pointed to the spot. Dwayne De Rosario converted United's first penalty kick of the season in the 19th minute, giving D.C. its first lead since March 9.
* But the score was level on the half-hour. Steven Caldwell delivered a free kick into the area from the right flank at the halfway line, and Robert Earnshaw beat defender Brandon McDonald in a duel to head the ball by United 'keeper Bill Hamid.
* Toronto took the lead for good in the 41st minute when Luis Silva floated a free kick into the box that deflected off the head of Daniel Woolard and by Hamid for United's third own goal of the season.
* United head coach Ben Olsen made five changes to the team that reached a scoreless draw with the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. Brandon McDonald and Alain Rochat came into the back four for James Rileyand Ethan White, and Sainey Nyassi, Dwayne De Rosario and Lionard Pajoy all came into the team in place of Kyle Porter, Chris Pontius and Carlos Ruiz.
* D.C. UNITED (4-2-3-1): Bill Hamid - Chris Korb, Daniel Woolard, Brandon McDonald, Alain Rochat - John Thorrington (Taylor Kemp 56), Perry Kitchen - Sainey Nyassi (Casey Townsend 61), Dwayne De Rosario (Rafael Teixeira 70), Nick DeLeon - Lionard Pajoy.

TEAM NEWS
* When Dwayne De Rosario converted the penalty kick, United held a lead in a league game for the first time since defeating Real Salt Lake 1-0 on March 9. It had been a span of 1098 minutes without leading a game.
* The goal also snapped a string of 314 minutes without a goal for United, their longest stretch without scoring in MLS this season and the fifth-longest such run in the league this season. United have three of the 10 longest goalless droughts in MLS this year.
* "The losses are starting to hurt more and more, so it's definitely tough. I don't have much to say about it. It is what it is," said midfielder Nick DeLeon. "You've got to continue to believe in it and continue to move forward by trying our best, but we've got to do something or change something. I don't know. I don't have any answers."
* Days after his acquisition from Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Alain Rochat was inserted into the back four, as the left back, before moving forward in the second half.
* "[Alain] Rochat in his first game looked pretty good, at those spots. I thought he did a very good job in the holding midfield position," said Olsen. "It's not an easy task coming into the team with training and stepping in. I thought he had a good night."
* Sainey Nyassi made his first league start for United, playing 61 minutes in a wide right role. Lionard Pajoy made his first MLS start since April 27, his first appearance in three league games.
* "I thought that some of the guys that came into the game, some of the newer guys, looked a little confused. We put a lot into that Open Cup, so I'm not putting too much stock into the energy level, but it's still disappointing the way we played. There was a lack of ball movement, ideas in the final third," said Olsen.
* Both Toronto FC goals started from set pieces, and United have now officially conceded eight goals from deadball opportunities this season, most in MLS. Chicago is next with five goals allowed on standard situations.
* "We didn't really get in and win any set pieces. We gave them two by giving fouls and then not winning the first ball," said Daniel Woolard, who scored an own goal on one of the set-piece chances. "Ö The free kick where they scored their first one ñ they had one guy in the box. They didn't have many other chances other than what they scored on."
* United have also officially allowed three own goals, second-most in MLS this season, behind Vancouver (4). Only New York, with 2, has also allowed more than one.
* "One or two is a lot in a season, so we're at [three]. We're not getting a lot of breaks in that sense. We obviously could have been better with the first goal, and the second one we've still got to attack the ball. We can't be heading the ball back into our own goal," said Olsen.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
The San Jose Earthquakes won in the first match under Mark Watson as head coach, defeating the Colorado Rapids 2-1 on Saturday evening at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Quakes sit in eighth place in the Western Conference with 18 points from 16 matches.

LAST MATCH
* The Earthquakes took the lead in the 11th minute. Alan Gordon flicked on a header out of the midfield from a Justin Morrow long ball and Steven Lenhart corraled it, holding up just in front of the area before blasting the ball past Rapids ëkeeper Clint Irwin's fingertips.
* The home side then went down a man seven minutes later when Atiba Harris came in on a late brutal tackle on San Jose's Alan Gordon, and referee Jorge Gonzalez showed a straight red card.
* The Quakes doubled their lead seven minutes after the break. Rafael Baca's looping through ball from midfield again broke down the Rapids' back line, with a wide-open Sam Cronin running in alone on goal to hammer home a rising shot.
* The Rapids pulled a goal back in the 67th minute when Brian Mullan, freed on the right by Martin Rivero, whipped in a cross that found Nathan Sturgis open for a simple header from close range.
* Quakes interim head coach Mark Watson made three changes to the team that suffered a 3-0 loss to Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium. Nana Attakora came into the back four for Brad Ring, and Rafael Baca and Steven Lenhart came into the side in place of Adam Jahn and Marvin Chavez.
* SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (4-4-2): Jon Busch - Steven Beitashour, Jason Hernandez, Justin Morrow, Nana Attakora - Chris Wondolowski, Sam Cronin, Rafael Baca, Walter Martinez (Shea Salinas 86) - Alan Gordon (Mehdi Ballouchy 69), Steven Lenhart.

TEAM NEWS
* In Mark Watson's first game in charge as interim head coach, the Earthquakes won for the first time since May 8. It was also the Quakes' first away win this season; only Chicago and D.C. United have yet to win away from home this year.
* "I've said this all along: We have a fantastic team, a good group of guys, great players, a great mentality, great work ethic, all the tools are there," Watson said. "To turn the corner, I think it's being confident, positive and addressing a few little things that we need to work on."
* Steven Lenhart scored his first goal of the season, making his first start since April 27. Lenhart's last goal had come last Sept. 29 vs. FC Dallas, his 10th in regular season play a year ago.
* "It was some finish by Lenny. He's been knocking on the door. He's been close; it's taken some good saves by keepers to keep him off the board. But I thought today he played really well," said Chris Wondolowski. Said Watson: "Lenny's goal was fantastic. He took it well. It came from some hard work and pressing in the right areas."
* It was just the second time this season the Quakes were able to run out Lenhart, Wondolowski and Alan Gordon together from the start of the match. The trio started April 14 vs. Portland, lasting together for the opening 63 minutes.
* "They don't really base their game off speed," Watson said. "It's more working off each other and holding up the ball, and then bringing guys into play. I thought they did a good job of that tonight." Said Sam Cronin: "If we can get them going, along with Wondo, it's a pretty formidable strike force we have going. They were great tonight, just holding the ball up, really battling and making it tough on their center backs.
* Cronin scored his second goal of the season, a single-season career-high. He had scored two goals total in his first four MLS seasons.
* Rafael Baca also returned to the starting lineup after a two-match absence and contributed his first assist of the season.
* "This puts us in the right direction. It gives us the right mentality, gets the ball rolling for us, and builds our confidence. It's huge to get a win, especially on the road," said Wondolowski.